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Board Of Directors

Robert D. Petty

Chairman & Non-Executive Director

Mr.Robert Petty is Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Clearwater LLC and is a member of Clearwater’s Investment and Management Committees. Mr.Petty is Non-Executive Director of Altico Capital. Over his nearly 30-year career, Mr.Petty has focused on investing in Asia-dedicated special situations and credit investments, including turnarounds, restructurings, stressed credits and distressed-for-control transactions.

Mr.Petty holds a bachelor of arts degree in Political Science from Brown University and is based in Hong Kong.

Amit Gupta

Non-Executive Director

Mr.Amit Gupta is Partner and Co-Founder of Clearwater LLC and a member of Clearwater’s Investment and Management Committees. Mr.Gupta is Non – Executive Director of Altico Capital. His principal responsibilities include credit research, due diligence, analysis and valuation. Throughout his nearly 20-year investment career, Mr.Gupta has been on the forefront of credit analysis and deal execution in Asia.

Prior to founding Clearwater in 2001, Mr.Gupta garnered experience while holding positions at Goldman Sachs (Asia) LLC where he was an Executive Director, at Peregrine Fixed Income Ltd. and at ICICI Ltd. Mr.Gupta sits on the Board of two Clearwater portfolio companies.

Mr.Gupta holds a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta and a bachelor of engineering degree in Electronics and Communications with Honors from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee.

Subhashree Dutta

Non-Executive Director

Ms.Subhashree Dutta is a member of Clearwater’s Investment and Management Committees. Ms.Dutta is Non – Executive Director of Altico Capital . She is responsible for overseeing credit analytics and has been involved in numerous restructurings. Ms.Dutta’s regional experience spans Asia, Australia and Europe and during her 20-year career she has developed industry expertise across various sectors.

Prior to joining Clearwater, Ms.Dutta was with ICICI Ltd. for more than nine years where she was largely focused on credit underwriting and relationship management. In her last assignment as Senior Vice President of the Special Asset Management Group, she was involved in performing workouts and settlements for large accounts. Ms.Dutta helped establish Clearwater’s office in Mumbai and has worked for extensive periods from Clearwater’s Hong Kong and New York offices.

Ms.Dutta holds a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management in Calcutta, is a CFA charter holder and is a graduate of the Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India.

Dr.Yao Chye Chiang

Non-Executive Director

Dr.Yao Chye Chiang joined Clearwater in 2008 and is a member of the firm’s Investment and Management committees. Dr.Chiang is Non-Executive Director of Altico Capital.

Based in Singapore, Dr.Chiang oversees Clearwater’s business and operating platforms, is responsible for the firms’ risk management and portfolio hedging strategies and plays a lead role in the institutionalization of organizational processes and infrastructure. Dr.Chiang also monitors global macro trends and the impact of current events on Asian markets. Prior to joining Clearwater, Dr.Chiang worked at Cargill Financial Services Asia and Black River Asset Management (Asia) from 1999 to 2008. At Black River, he was Co-Director with joint oversight responsibility for the fund management platform in Asia as well as Managing Director with principal responsibilities including risk, strategy and compliance.

Prior to that, he worked at CIBC World Markets as Executive Director of Country Risk Management and Head of Asia-Pacific Research.

Dr.Chiang graduated from the University of Adelaide with first class honors under a Colombo Plan Scholarship and holds master and doctorate degrees in Economics from Princeton University where he attended as a joint Princeton fellowship and George Murray Scholarship holder.

Rahul Merchant

Non-executive Director

Mr.Rahul Merchant is Executive Vice President and Chief Information Officer at TIAA. Mr.Merchant is Non-Executive Director of Altico Capital. He has more than 30 years of public and private sector experience as a transformation leader, including expertise in business, technology, operations and private equity.

Prior to joining TIAA in April 2015, Mr.Merchant ran his own advisory firm. Previously, he was Citywide Chief Information and Innovation Officer for the City of New York; Executive Vice President, Chief Information and Operations Officer and Member of the Executive Committee at Fannie Mae, and Senior Vice President, Chief Information Officer and Chief Technology Officer at Merrill Lynch. He also has served as a senior executive with Dresdner Bank, Sanwa Bank, and Cooper Neff and Associates.

Mr.Merchant holds Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Bombay University, a Master of Science in Computer Science from Memphis State University, and a Master of Business Administration from Temple University.

Mark Cutis

Non – Executive Director

Mr.Mark Nicholas Cutis has been Chief Investment Officer at Abu Dhabi Investment Council since joined 2008. Mr.Cutis has experience is in proprietary trading, both on the buy side as well as the sell side. His professional experience involves working for global investment banks in various capacities.

Mr.Cutis served as the Chief Investment Officer of Shinsei Bank. He has worked in New York, London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Moscow. He serves as Independent Director at Athene Holding Ltd. He served as a Non-Executive Director of Lalpir Power Limited (formerly, AES Lalpir (Pvt) Ltd.) until April 26, 2014. Mr.Cutis served as a Non-Executive Director of Pakgen Power Ltd. until October 10, 2013.

Mr.Cutis holds a BA in Economics from Emory University, where he was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa Society, and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

Ali M. Haroon

Non – Executive Director

Mr.Ali Haroon is a Partner of Värde and is Co-Head of the Global Real Estate team and leads the Asian business at Värde. Mr.Haroon is a member of the firm's Investment Committee and joined Värde in 2005 and named Partner in 2011.

Based in Singapore since 2010, Mr.Haroon’s focus in Asia includes continuing to build the firm's growing presence in the region. His responsibilities in real estate include Värde’s commercial real estate credit and hard asset business as well as its residential land development activities. Mr.Haroon has previously worked in Värde’s London office with a focus on European real estate investments and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Prior to Värde, Mr.Haroon was an investment banking associate at Bear Stearns, London, and worked as an investment banking analyst at Bear Stearns, New York.

Mr.Haroon graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Economics, and received an M.B.A. from INSEAD, France.

Naina Lal Kidwai

Independent Non –Executive Director

Ms.Naina Lal Kidwai is Independent Non-Executive Director of Altico Capital. Ms.Kidwai retired as Executive Director on the Board of HSBC Asia Pacific and Chairperson of the India, after a 13-year stint. Before joining HSBC, she was Vice Chairperson and Head Investment Banking at JM Morgan Stanley and was responsible for directing the operations of the Investment Bank in India.

Ms.Kidwai has completed her MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration Boston, Massachusetts. Ms.Kidwai is on the Boards of Larsen & Toubro Limited, Advent Private Equity, Nestle SA., Cipla Limited, Max Financial Services Limited and Chairperson of South Asia Harvard Business School. Ms.Kidwai is currently involved with several Industry Associations and has been a past President of FICCI.

Stephen Marzo

Independent Non –Executive Director

Mr.Stephen Marzo is Independent Non – Executive Director of Altico Capital. Mr.Marzo has over 30 years of experience in financial management at various financial institutions and commodity trading and resource investment companies.

Mr.Marzo has spent most of his work life in Asia including the past 18 years in Hong Kong. Mr.Marzo’s recent roles include being Chief Financial Officer of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEx) and Group Chief Financial Officer of the Noble Group Limited (“Noble Group”), one of the largest commodities supply chain management companies in the world. Mr.Marzo held senior risk management positions at Goldman Sachs Asia LLC and Bear Stearns (Asia) LLC. He also previously worked as the European Treasurer for Phibro Energy Inc.

Mr.Marzo holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Georgetown University in Washington, DC, USA.

Building Objective Constructing Relations.

Akihito Watanabe

Managing Director

Mr.Akihito Watanabe is a Managing Director of Värde and is responsible for real estate related investments in Asia-Pacific, primarily focused on the Japanese market. Based in Tokyo, he joined the firm in 2009.

Prior to joining Värde, Akihito spent five years at Lehman Brothers as an associate responsible for distressed real estate related credit and equity investments, as well as advising on capital markets and M&A transactions for REITs, funds and companies across the real estate sector.

Mr.Akihito graduated from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and received his Master of International Affairs in International Finance and Business from Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs.